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Learn to read Spanish at WNMU-Deming

Western New Mexico University-Deming has started a new and unique Spanish course at the Mimbres Valley Learning Center in Deming. If you have ever wanted to learn how to read in Spanish, this is the course for you.

The course meets from 4-6:45; once a week on Thursdays in Room 118. Students in this course are asked to bring a family member or a friend, ages 7 years or older, with them as a reading partner.

Students who attend Deming High School may take the course as dual-enrolled. This will save money for their parents and students will have a good introduction to college life while they add college credits to their student transcripts.

The course starts by having students learn, or re-learn, the ABC's in Spanish and basic vocabulary.

Students will move toward reading at a high beginners or intermediate level. Each student will determine his or her end-goals.

Students are taught reading strategies and through fun-filled activities, reading in Spanish becomes a reality and self-confidence is gained.

This course is designed with a community-based literacy approach. Following Paulo Freire's philosophy, the knowledge that every student brings into the classroom is acknowledged and becomes the ground on which a student builds greater comprehension and increases skills.

The students are asked to become partners with the teacher in a process that reaches goals set by the student and not the teacher. The teacher is a resource and a guide for the students.

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Who is the teacher? Dr. María Eugenia Trillo drives from her native El Paso, Texas to teach WNMU's students in Deming. She learned this method of teaching in Mexico where she received her Bachelor of Arts at the Universidad de las Americas in Puebla. She also saw this teaching approach in Canada.

She has a Masters (M.A.) from the University of Toronto. Her doctorate in Spanish Linguistics is from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Now, Trillo is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Chicano/Chicana and Hemispheric Studies at Western New Mexico University.

Come this Thursday to this wonderful and fun adventure in Spanish. The official name of the course is SPAN 280: Introduction to Spanish for Heritage/Native Speakers-Aprendiendo a leer entre familia: A community-based Spanish Literacy course.

You must register by today, Monday, Jan. 14 and you will have to pay a $50 late fee but, remember that this course educates two people for the price of one.

For more information, call 575-519-9738 or talk to Olivia Morales at the MVLC in Deming: 575-546-6556. You can also email: trillom@wnmu.edu.

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